All Posts in Design

I started this site—primarily as a blog—back in 2009. I wanted to speak my mind about all things digital project management. I did, and it led to a lot of great conversations, connections, and advancements in my career. When I went out on my own in January of 2015, I immediately knew that the design wasn’t going to work if I wanted to showcase my work—or what I’m doing. So I flipped a switch in WordPress and suddenly jumped into a new, less customizable theme. it never felt right, but it did the job for the time being. I always knew that I wanted a more customized site that allowed me to showcase what I’m doing for work in addition to what I’m saying on this blog, but I knew it would take some time.

In March, I decided to put a call out on Twitter to see if anyone would want to help me with a new brand and a new site. That’s when my friend and Every Day DPM co-blogger Rachel Gertz replied and I thought to myself, “Duh. Of course Louder Than Ten!” We had already been doing some work together and had been thinking about planning an Every Day DPM workshop in Vancouver, among other things. It just felt like the best option, maybe even an extension of all of the fun stuff we’d been working on together already. Plus, working with friends on something that is so personal just feels right.

The next week, Rachel, Travis and I were on the phone talking about next steps. They asked me the right questions: What will this “brand” represent? What did I need immediately? What could I wait for? Immediately I was excited, and of course I wanted it all at once. This is why it’s good to work with friends (and good project managers): They laid the project and costs out for me in a way that helped me to prioritize the work.

We started with a logo

We all agreed that the best place to start was with a logo. I mean, I honestly never thought I wanted or needed one, but man am I happy with what Travis designed. And the process was fun, smooth, and easy to navigate. After two rounds of looking at rough sketches, we landed on an option that felt right for me. And then some refinements, and color.

I could not wait to apply this to business cards—and I’d been lacking those for months—so Travis whipped them up, printed them, and sent them my way. I now have a full box of cards that I will probably remember to hand out three times this year, because that’s how I roll. BUT I HAVE BUSINESS CARDS!

Oh, and I printed stickers too. My kids seem to love them.

Then came a website

Every time I received an email through the contact form on my old site, I was met with shock and embarrassment. Shock that someone would take the old site legitimately. Embarrassment because that’s how you’d feel working in the web industry with such a junior league site.

Initially we planned to attack the project later in the year, but I didn’t think I would be able to wait. Thankfully, Travis was able to make some time in his busy schedule and we kicked the site design out in just two and a half weeks. I handled content, he designed, illustrated, and coded everything in Semplice for WordPress, and I ended up with a site that I’m truly happy with—and proud of. I’m sure we’ll make enhancements or changes in the future, but what I have now is a site that actually represents my work and my personality.

AND WE LAUNCHED IT ON A FRIDAY. Yup, we broke the rules. There were hiccups. We fixed them, and then sent fireworks gifs over Slack. It was quick, fun, and stress-free. That’s how it should be.

Thanks to LT10

I can’t post this without sending a huge thanks for Rachel and Travis Gertz at Louder Than Ten for helping me with this project. They’re not only doing great web design work, they’re a strong voice in the digital PM community. Check out coax, the digital magazine they’re publishing for DPMs. It’s a joy to read—and full of helpful information and opinions.

What’s Next?

This year has been fulfilling, fun, and busy (but also relaxing at the same time, if that is possible?). I’ve done a lot of work I’ve been proud of, and I’m excited to show you more. I’m always looking for new contacts and businesses to help. Now that I’ve got a real site and logo, I’d love for you to share them! I’m always open to new and exciting projects.

We just completed a project with the most aggressive timeline I have ever had the pleasure to plan and manage. It would have been a complete displeasure had everything not gone so well. It might not sound so rough in writing, but we designed and deployed a blog for a brand new client in under 10 days.

Two days after launch, I am sitting at my desk, going back to the site to make sure we didn't miss something, thinking "what happened here?" or "how did we pull it off?" Here's why I think we did it: Read more

Do you know what it feels like to be a client? It's not easy. Especially if you're working for a large organization with many, many fickle stakeholders. I've been in that situation a couple of times, so I can always empathize with my clients who find themselves in that same position. But when you're working on a project with a smaller organization it can be so much more fun. When you're working on your own site with a friend it can be downright exciting.

So, as you can probably tell, I was recently a client. Yesenia Perez-Cruz redesigned this here bloggy blog, and I'm over the moon about the results. The process was easy-breezy: Yesenia showed me a sketch at one point and I got a little too exited. She switched it up on me a week later, and I couldn't believe my eyes. A tweak here, a tweak there, and we were in business. And believe it or not, it was all done in a WordPress.com template.

I'd like to think that I was a good client. But I'll let Yesenia speak for me on that. If there is any wisdom I can impart on being a client, it would be to trust your designer (or team of designers) and get excited about the work. If you have a question or a change to consider along the way, don't be shy. Speak your mind, because anyone can have a good idea, and no one knows what you want better than you (unless you work with Yesenia).